American Lake Classic, April 13, 2002
It was a cool and drizzling morning when I pulled up to the stoplight at Exit 122 on I-5. I was still fairly early, and would have plenty of time to launch at the nearby Dept. of Fish and Wildlife ramp and pedal over to Bill's Boathouse, which was to be the starting point for the Sound Rowers American Lake Classic race.
En route to the DFW ramp I noticed a sign pointing to another park apparently having some sort of water access just north of Bill's, so off I drove. Entering the parking lot I found a number of parked cars and fishermen, but no signs of watercraft. Upon asking some of the people standing around (yes, I can ask for directions!), it was soon clear to me that there was no boat launch in this park.
Off I drove back to the DFW ramp, passing Bill's on the way. The lot at Bill's was starting to fill with Sound Rowers racers and their cars, but I still had plenty of time.
Entering the DFW grounds the road quickly turned into a muddy track quite reminiscent of the quality of roads I remember from a vacation in Costa Rica: plentiful potholes, gravel and muck everywhere. For the pleasure of driving down this road, parking at the garbage strewn parking lot, using the trash-filled pit toilets, and launching at the dock-free crumbling concrete ramp I was informed by a prominently placed sign that I needed to buy an appropriate permit at some other place.
Rather than risk the long arm of the law reaching out and penalizing me, I retraced my route back to the freeway and headed towards the only other public boat ramp on the lake. Located in Lakewood City on the oppposite side of the lake from Bill's, this launch was quite well maintained, having a nicely paved parking lot, ramp, floating dock, a beautiful park with playground equipment for the kids, etc., etc. One could even pay the $5 fee to launch right there on the spot! Ok, so it was also shared by a private seaplane company, but that merely added to the atmosphere.
I quickly launched my Escapade, parked my car and headed out into the lake.
The last time I was at this race I had been a mere spectator, so I knew that Bill's Boathouse had to be on the other side of the island that was now ahead of me.
There was a moderate breeze from the south blowing over the lake. This added a little chop to the water, and helped keep me cool. Cool and wet, as the drizzle started back up again. Up went the bimini top, and onward I pedaled.
It took about ten or 15 minutes to reach the north side of the island. From there Bill’s Boathouse was quite easy to spot, as it was the only place on the shore surrounded by docks and boats of all description.
As I got closer, I noticed a large group of people out in front of the place. They were apparently engaged in some sort of ritualistic exercise, standing, squatting, bending over, etc., all in sync with each other. Perhaps there was some ceremony that I was late in attending…
I tied up my Escapade stern-first and downwind against one of the floating docks, and exited the vessel from the rear leaving the bimini up. The race registration tent was nearly empty, as all the other race participants had completed registrations. My race number was #100, but there were only 50 boats in the event. As the self-appointed photographer I went around snapping pictures, and managed to miss most of the pre-race meeting. Oh, well. How hard can it be to follow 48 other boats around an island?
The only way for all the race boats to enter the water is either by going to some remote launch, or by carrying them down the steps at the boathouse. Just about everyone delicately carried their boats around and over the building, with some folks temporarily parking them on the roof or on the docks.
Luckily for me, the start of the race was delayed, so I took the opportunity and cruised around the other contestants taking pictures.
There was an amazing number of boats spread out over the starting line area. With the southerly breeze the boats, mine included, had to be careful so as to not drift into each other.
The race started about 10:30:
I was quickly left behind, which was not necessarily a bad thing. From what I could see, the boats were somewhat clogged together trying to turn around the first buoy in this triangular course.
Note that we were actually much closer to the far side of the lake than is depicted in the Sound Rowers map of the course. As it was, the second buoy was not very far from the boat ramp where I put in.
The misty rain made it a bit difficult to see out my windshield. The squeegee I had at my disposal did a great job, but it needs a handle with a greater reach to clear the entire window. Perhaps I’ll remember in time for the next outing… Anyway, the folks keeping track of the race progress were doing their best on the dock to keep warm, while I was doing my best in my cockpit to keep cool. I was soaked with sweat.
Just before reaching the first buoy for the second circuit around the island I was passed by this mixed four person kayak.
The two-man racing shells came soon thereafter, shortly after I passed the buoy.
Pretty much the majority of everyone else passed me between the first buoy and the dock on their third time around (during my second circuit).
Just as I was approaching the end of my second circuit I hear a lot of noise coming up from behind. Lo and behold, it was the first of two of the Tacoma dragon boats! It was not quite clear to me to which side they were trying to pass, so I veered away from the finish line buoy to give them way. Whew!
The last lap was fairly quiet and peaceful. The wind died down a bit, which meant I got really hot. I went through a couple of boxes of juice as well as my water bottle. Finally, as I neared the second buoy a slight breeze came up and helped to cool me off.
Approaching the island for the last time I came upon a man trying out a racing shell. He and I talked a bit about boating, and then he decided to make some speed and head back to the dock. I put the pedal to the metal, but it was no contest. Something about my 320 pound boat versus his 60 pound shell might have made the difference.
The food at the end of the race was quite delicious. Fried or barbecued chicked, potato salad, fruit, cookies, soft drinks and rolls made for a tasty ending.
While waiting for what seemed to be an eternity for the race results and the awards, I took a look at some of the restored antique wooden boats at Bill’s. They are really well preserved, and could even be considered museum quality. After a while, though, I decided to take a seat in my boat, put on some dry clothes and wait for the awards ceremony.
The son of the owner of Bill’s was the master of ceremonies. With the great turnout by the Tacoma Dragon Boat Association, the officials ran out of first place ribbons. Hey – what can you do when you have 20 people in a boat and they all get a ribbon?!
The four person kayak covered the 6.6 miles in about 48 minutes, 47 seconds. I managed to finish first in my class, and last overall with a time of 91 minutes, 5 seconds, seven minutes behind the second last boat. Of course, I also finished with about 88 photos as well. Two of the boats did not complete the course.
Afterwards, I took my time crossing back to the boat launch. It was very quiet, fish were jumping out of the water nearby, a couple of waterfowl were diving, surfacing and diving again.
The stress of the previous week was a very distant memory.
To see all the pictures, in larger and better formats, visit this link.